Look away now if you want to hear this sermon tomorrow (Sunday 31st Jan 11am without spoilers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPBFrhqP5nL6QnmkZKfP5yw )
SERMON / SPEAKING NOTES:
I don’t think you have to be a theological
genius to work out the main point of our Psalm.
You might like to have a look at it again –
Psalm 111 – and our slide might help us.
You can see our Psalm begins and ends with praise.
V1: “Praise the LORD” – Hall-el-u Yah!
And it ends, “To him [to the LORD] belong
eternal praises”
This is a Psalm of Praise.
It encourages us to praise the LORD, Yahweh,
the true and living God of the Bible, the Great “I am who I am”, the personal
covenant God who revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush.
The Psalmist sets us an example and he
encourages us to do what he himself does:
V1: “I will extol the LORD with all my heart”
That word “extol” it means to praise – to exalt
or glorify.
It could be translated confess or give thanks
to.
The Psalmist wants each of us to make a similar,
individual, personal commitment to praising God.
Well, you might say, I don’t feel very much
like doing that!
And I could understand that at the moment.
Maybe things are pretty hard and depressing
for you.
But I think this Psalm could be a great encouragement
and help to us, however we’re feeling.
The Psalmist thinks we need to be urged to
praise God.
And he gives us many reasons to do so, most of
them independent of our immediate circumstances.
I have a friend, younger than me, who is
terminally ill.
And life is often very hard for her.
Sometimes she can barely breath or get about
of bed.
Often she feels terrible.
But she would say there are always many
reasons to praise God – lots to be thankful for.
If you wanted this Psalm, this sermon, in one
sentence we might say:
Pondering God’s works prompts praise.
Pondering God’s works prompts praise.
And we’ll go on to do that.
I think our Psalmist would admit that even to
the believer, praising God doesn’t always come spontaneously, or naturally, or
easily.
But he’d say to us, ponder God’s works, and I reckon
pretty soon you’ll find yourself praising him.
The Psalmist has resolved, v1, to praise God “with
all my heart”.
Perfectly wholehearted worship of God is
something we might rarely if ever achieve, but its something to pray for, isn’t
it?
In our better moments we at least want to want
to praise God – and that’s a sign of his grace to us.
Let’s pray for a basic integrity:
For a consistency of life and lips.
That this hour on a Sunday morning would match
up with the rest of our week.
So, this worship is heartfelt, sincere and honest.
Your heart is your inner person: who you are.
In a way its totally secret and private.
Only God can really see into your heart.
And Jesus spoke of going to your room and
closing the door and praying in secret to your unseen Father in heaven who sees
you.
But this praise is also public:
V1 goes on:
“I will extol you in the council of the upright
and in the assembly”
The scholars debate exactly what those words “council”
and “assembly” mean and refer to.
It may be that “council” is a more limited
word, and “assembly” is broader.
But this is certainly praise with others:
Praise as part of a fellowship where we can
encourage one another.
And praise before the world.
It’s a reminder of the importance of meeting
as a church – of public worship.
And we very much look forward to being back together
in person and having the doors unlocked so that anyone could come it.
But in a way you couldn’t get more public than
the internet!
It’s very easy for people to join us from
their sofa at the moment and we can like and share and comment and invite
others to join in.
Our verse might encourage us to worship God not
only alone, but with our household or family if we have one, and perhaps in a
small group like our church midweek meeting.
Do ask me if you’re interested in that.
Even if we’re stuck at home alone at the
moment, chapter 12 of Hebrews tells us we have come in Christ to the heavenly
Jerusalem.
We worship God in fellowship with the whole
church down the ages and around the world.
We have come, the Bible says, to thousands
upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.
We are not alone.
We extol the LORD in the council of the
upright and in the assembly.
So the bulk of the rest of the Psalm, vv2-9,
describes the works of the Lord as an encouragement for us to praise him.
The Psalm is actually written as an acrostic
poem.
It has 22 lines which each start with
successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The Psalm gives us an A-Z of praise.
God deserves complete worship.
There are an inexhaustible number of reasons
to praise him.
V2 says, “Great are the works of the LORD,
they are pondered by all who delight in them”.
Those words appear over doors to the old
Cavendish Physics Laboratory in Cambridge.
And that’s a classical way of thinking about
science:
Pondering the works of the Lord, delighting in
them, so that we might worship him.
Sometimes people have spoken of the book of
Scripture and the book of Creation.
Both the Bible and the natural world in their
different ways tell us about God.
And the idea in this Psalm is that the works
and words of God reveal his character and nature.
What God has made and done and said shows us
what he’s like.
Pondering that prompts praise.
The same might be true of a human artist.
If we looked at the works of da Vinci, or Rembrandt,
or Monet, or Van Gough, Or Picasso, of Salvador Dali, or Francis Bacon, or whoever,
we might guess at their different characters.
We had some decorating done at the Rectory
last week.
And we’re very pleased with it.
I would be delighted to recommend the painter.
You can come round and admire his work when
Covid is over if you like.
If you did, I think it would be obvious to you
pretty quickly I didn’t magnolia those walls.
This is the work of someone with skill.
And he’s done it carefully and
conscientiously.
It wouldn’t surprise you, when you looked at
his work, to know that he turned up when he said he would at 8:30am every
morning.
His work revealed that sort of character.
And so it is, on a much grander scale, with
God!
So think of the works of God for a moment.
Their number.
Their vastness.
Their variety.
Their complexity.
Their beauty.
Think of the protons and the planets.
Or of sunrises and sunsets.
Of the amoeba and the elephant.
Of all the creatures of the deep sea no one
ever sees.
And so we could go on!
It could be your homework to watch nature
documentaries this afternoon!
Even in our little corner of Sussex, there are
many works of God to delight in, aren’t there?
This weekend is the Big Garden Bird Watch.
There are 574 species of birds in the UK.
There might be around 18 000 species of bird
in the world.
All together there might be around 8.7 million
species on earth, the vast majority of them still not described by science.
Great are the works of the LORD!
But the Psalmist’s focus is probably especially
on God’s deeds (v3) – on his actions, what he has done.
Especially on his great works of salvation
history.
Maybe the Exodus is particularly in his mind.
Remember how, v5, he provided food for his
people in the wilderness.
He was keeping his covenant promises.
And v6, he gave his people the lands of other
nations as they conquered the promised land.
And, v7, he gave them his precepts, v7, his
law from Mount Sinai.
The great thing to praise God for is, v9, that
he provided redemption for his people.
He bought them back by the payment of a price.
He set them free from slavery in Egypt.
And as New Testament believers, we look back
to God’s ultimate keeping of his covenant promises in the Lord Jesus Christ:
If the Psalmist had reasons for praise, don’t
we have more?
We have an even greater salvation:
Our redemption in the Lord Jesus, which is like
a new Exodus as we are set free from slavery to sin by his precious blood.
He gives us our daily bread and his law of
love.
V5 tells us that God has remembered his covenant
promises.
And v4 tells us he has caused his wonders to
be remembered.
He has recorded them in the Scriptures.
He gave Israel the Old Testament festivals to
be memorials of their redemption.
Some scholars have speculated that this Psalm
might have been sung at Passover time.
Indeed, we know Jesus and his disciples sang a
hymn after the Last Supper, so maybe they sang this Psalm.
We thank God that he has passed over our sins
because Jesus the Lamb of God died in our place than we might be forgiven.
The Sabbath, the Lord’s Day, is for us a weekly
memorial by which we remember our redemption and celebrate the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus.
We look forward to the day when we can
remember Jesus’ death for us again with the bread and wine of Holy Communion.
We would do well to study this Psalm further as
we ponder the works of God, but for now let’s sum up.
[We might have the slide up again for this]
What are the works and words of God like?
What do they tell us about him?
God’s works are great (v2)
His deeds are glorious and majestic (v3)
His righteousness endures for ever (v3)
The LORD is gracious and compassionate (v4)
Powerful (v6)
His works are faithful and just and
trustworthy (v7)
Steadfast and faithful and upright (v8)
Holy and awesome is his name (v9)
And verse 10 tells us how to respond to all
this:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”.
We spoke quite a lot last week about the fear
of the Lord when we looked at Psalm 128.
You can find that service on You Tube and the
sermon on the church website.
A right fear of the LORD isn’t cringing terror
or anxiety of judgement but reverence, awe and respect.
It is to humbly tremble at his word and to
resolve to obey it.
When we know God as creator, redeemer and provider,
as this Psalm describes him, our reverence mingles with delight, gratitude and
trust.
Wisdom means applied knowledge – its knowledge
oriented towards action.
Knowledge is that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is how to make a salad.
You could be very clever and knowledgeable,
but not very wise!
A great boffin in pure maths might not be able
to manage the family food budget.
Wisdom is about living appropriately: living
God’s way in God’s world.
Life is best lives according to the maker’s
instruction.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom” not because we can master it and then go on to steps two and three.
The fear of the LORD is the first, principal and
main thing: the essential way to wisdom.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning, the
middle and the end of wisdom, the sum and substance of wisdom, the A to Z of
wisdom!
And v10, following God’s ways leads to
understanding.
This is the classic approach of “Faith seeking
understanding”.
Not that I need to understand everything first,
and then I’ll believe it, and try to live in the light of it.
No, rather, as we believe and obey, we
understand more and more.
There’s a moral component to understanding.
It’s not just intellectual.
Our problem is rarely just informational; its
often intentional.
Knowledge of God and his ways is never
entirely academic or theoretical.
God says to us today: fear me, trust me, and
go the next step according to my word.
Walk with me in my ways.
And if you follow my Law for the next step,
over time, you will have a good understanding.
It’s as we walk with God that we will know and
love and praise him better.
Let’s take some time today to ponder God’s
works and words.
We’ll find that pondering God’s works prompts
praise.
Let’s resolve to do all that we can to extol
him with all our hearts, with others, and before the world.
Let’s fear him and follow his Laws.
To him belongs eternal praise.
That’s our eternal destiny, if we’re trusting
in Christ, so good to make a start now!
And so to God the Father, God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit be all honour and power and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
* * *
OUTLINE / SUMMARY:
PONDERING GOD’S WORKS PROMPTS PRAISE
Praise the
LORD wholeheartedly and publicly (v1)
Pondering God’s great works
and words reveals his nature and character (glorious, majestic, righteous,
gracious, compassionate, powerful, faithful, just, trustworthy, steadfast,
upright, holy, awesome etc), giving us many reasons to praise him (vv2-9)
We would be wise to respond with reverence,
obedience and eternal praise (v10)
* * *
NOTES:
We may not feel like praising God today.
And in a way who could blame us!
Our Psalm implies that we might need to be
urged and helped to praise God.
Authentic praise is not necessarily entirely
natural or automatic, even for the believer.
And our praise might be helped by set forms,
by liturgy, and by the words of others.
In our Psalm we have real heartfelt praise
expressed in the highly ordered and stylized form of an acrostic poem.
I don’t suspect this Psalm just flowed
straight from the Psalmist.
He thought about it and chose his words
carefully – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course.
So our praise might not come naturally.
This Psalm might help us.
And in particular it might help us to worship
God by reflecting on his works.
If you want the message of this Psalm in one
sentence it might be:
“Pondering God’s works prompts praise”
“Pondering God’s works prompts / provokes /
produces praise”
Whether we feel like it or not, it is always
right for creatures to praise their creator.
Our Psalm gives us many reasons to praise God
– few of which are concerned with our own immediate circumstances.
“I happen to feel like it at the moment”
doesn’t really come into it, though if you do feel like it, fantastic!
In fact, something we should pray for is a
desire to wholeheartedly praise God.
We may feel very far from that, but if part of
us wants to wants to praise God, that is a sign of his grace in us and
something to praise him for.
Concerted, Comprehensive, Ceaseless Praise
General thanksgiving
Spurgeon: this Psalm of God’ works is intended
to excite us to the work of praise of God
We are to remember and study God’s works that
we might praise him.
How forgetful of God and all he has done we
can be!
How foolish that is!
The Psalm teaches us the nature and character
of God by describing his works and then it draws the practical inferences of
reverence and obedience which are true wisdom.
Vv1 and 10 give us the application, the
response this Psalm calls for.
And all the verses in between give us reasons
for this response:
They show us why God is to be praised, feared
and obeyed.
111-119 – The Egyptian (114:1) Hallel / praise
Psalms framed by acrostics – perhaps used at festivals / Passover – may have been
sung by Jesus at last supper – Mk 14:26
Kidner: the main topic of this Psalm is the
steady goodness of God displayed in his works
God’s goodness is practical.
Wilcock: inclusios vv2-7a, vv7b-10a
I
will extol the Lord (v1)
His
works… his works (vv2-7a)
His
precepts… his precepts (vv7b-10b)
To
him belong praises (v10c)
Last week we talked about reading Psalm 128 in
the light of Psalm 127 and the other surrounding psalms.
Psalms 111-113 all begin with a hallelujah – a
praise the LORD!
It doesn’t take a genius to work out the key
note of our Psalm.
The word praise comes in the first and last
verses.
Our Psalm today is obviously paired with Psalm
112.
They’re both acrostic poems.
You probably had to write acrostic poems at
school with CHRISTMAS or SUMMER spelt out by the first letters.
These acrostics are a bit different from our
normal acrostics.
They don’t spell out a message or theme.
They have 22 lines each beginning with
successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
They give us an A to Z, if you like.
God the Alpha and the Omega worthy of all
praise!
Acrostic a memory aid?
See Spurgeon Treasury of David p5 for an
English Acrostic version
(The acrostic provides the structure and the
Psalm sometimes returns to themes / subjects)
Psalm 111 describes God and Psalm 112 how his
people come to resemble him. (Keller)
Psalm 111 tells us of God; Psalm 112 tells us
of the man of God (Kidner)
We are made in the image of God and we’re to
reflect what he’s like.
We become like what we love and worship.
Our praise of God will transform us.
Who is this God we should be like? (Keller)
A worker who makes things (v2)
Righteous (v3)
Compassionate (vv4-5)
A God of truth (vv7-8)
A God of integrity who keeps his promises (v9)
What is the unique contribution of this Psalm?
Some things here will be pretty familiar to
some of us – what’s new / strange / striking?
It is interesting that the acrostic artistry
of the Psalm, which we might think a little stilted or contrived, is not
thought antithetical to whole hearted praise (v1).
Wholehearted worship is not necessarily
entirely spontaneous / unliturgical / without set forms.
Acrostic poem – this is the first totally
regular one in the Psalter – the four previous ones have been defective
Perhaps if we keep this in mind, it serves to
emphasise the perfection of God's works or the perfect / complete praise they
deserve (which could be said to be themes of the Psalm).
An A-Z of praise
Complete
V1 – All my heart
V10 – for all who follow God’s precepts
V10 – for all days – eternal praise
V1 – The Psalmist tells us what he’s resolved
to do and where he’s resolved to do it
Painful to us that we can’t assemble and
congregate together in the flesh at the moment.
V1a – the heart, the most private, secret,
hidden place of all, his inner person / self;
1b – public
V1 – wholeheartedness = willing and complete
praise
We are so rarely wholehearted
We can at least pray for more wholeheartedness
If we manage about a third or 51%...
V1 – company – sod – an intimate word, a
circle of friends or advisors (fellowship?) – congregation a wider word, not a
narrow clique
V1 – The Psalmist sets us an example which he
has urged us to follow.
He doesn’t ask us to do what he is unwilling
to do himself.
He gives us words we could say
“I will extol” – first person singular – your
own individual personal commitment not borrowed capital from others - God is to
be praised by each individual but also with others, in fellowship and publicly,
ideally by the whole nation and world
Religion is not a privatised matter
You were made for the praise and glory of God!
It’s your highest vocation and end and
greatest blessing and good.
Cf. Heb 12:22-24 – Even if we’re at home
alone, we assemble with countless angels and saints in glory
V2 – God’s works reveal his character
Just like the works of a great artist might
tell you something about him
You might guess at the character of Rembrandt,
or Monet, or Van Gough, Or Picasso, of Salvador Dali, or Francis Bacon.
We had some decorating done at the Rectory
last week.
And we’re very pleased with it.
I would be delighted to recommend the painter.
You can come round and admire his work when
Covid is over if you like.
I think it will be obvious to you pretty
quickly I didn’t magnolia those walls.
This is the work of someone with skill.
And he’s done it carefully and conscientiously.
It wouldn’t surprise you, when you looked at
his work, to know that he turned up when he said he would at 8:30am every
morning.
His work revealed that sort of character.
And so it is, on a much grander scale, with
God!
V2 – Ponder and delight in the LORD’s great
works
What works?
How to do this
V3 – glorious, majestic, righteous
V2 – some of our works are so weak and
pathetic; some of the works of people are very great although all pass away and
fail – the works of God are truly great and enduring
V2 – great in design and size and number and
wonder, in variety and intricacy and power and beauty and usefulness
The workman has never made anything hasty or
shoddy
Nature programme
The wonders of the deep sea or the insect
kingdom
The watermelon and the waterfall
The amoeba and the elephant
Protons and platypuses and planets etc.
Make an A-Z of things to be thankful for or
praise God for
For breakfast I had – game
Praise God for – game
V2 – works – masasim – sometimes God’s deeds
as in v6 but more often what he has made e.g., the heavens
God’s works are made in wisdom and deserve
pondering, research etc.
Science as contemplating the works of God, the
book of nature
This verse graces the entrance of the
Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge -
In the Vulgate form (‘Magna opera Domini exquisite in
omnes voluntates eius’), the verse is carved into the heavy wooden doors of the
old Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics) of Cambridge University,
albeit in ornate gothic lettering which is not easy to read. It was apparently
put there at the behest of James Clerk Maxwell, the first Cavendish Professor,
at the time of the building of the laboratory in the early 1870s (this is
rather speculative!)
V2 – see PowerPoint slide Psalm 111
“Philosophy seeks truth, Theology finds it, but Religion
possesses it. Human things must be known to be loved but divine things must be
loved to be known.” (Pascal, apparently)
Matthew Henry (quoted in Spurgeon): 6 reasons for praise
(vv2-9)
God’s works
(1) their greatness and glory
(2) their righteousness
(3) their goodness
(4) their power
(5) their conformity to God’s word of promise
(6) their perpetuity
V3 – God’s work poal likely his providential
acts – cf. 112:3ff
The mighty act of redemption which the Psalmist
would look back to was above all the Exodus.
We look back to the greater Exodus of the
cross.
V4 – not least by having them recorded in the
Scriptures!
And by the festivals of the OT.
And the NT Sabbath.
And in the Lord’s Supper.
V4 – He has made a memorial of his wonderful works
– his saving acts – the Passover? – cf. 1 Cor 11:23-26
or possibly he has won a name by his marvellous
deeds (NEB)
the root word for remember recurs in v5
v4 the Lord does not let us forget; v5 the
Lord does not forget
Plumer: We need never be at a loss for reasons
for praise. Above, beneath, within and around us, in nature, providence and
grace we see unspeakable wonders. It’s amazing that we miss them so easily.
Remembering God’s saving works in the past
should enable us to trust him for the future: he is a powerful saving God who
is committed to his people
V5 – as God provided food for his people in
the wilderness
the quiet simple provision of food for those
who fear God in addition to his mighty acts of creation and salvation
If you want to see the works of God, there’s
both the making of Everest and the crossing of the Red Sea and the bread on the
table
Some of us might feel very detached from our
food production but Jesus taught us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread”.
We are completely dependant on God, even if he
provides for us via a Tesco delivery.
God’s works and his precepts, what he does and
what he says, go together (v7f)
V9 – looking back to the Exodus and Sinai?
V9 – awesome / terrible = fearful – v10 – the
fear of the Lord
V10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom – “This famous saying is virtually the motto of the Wisdom writings” –
cf. Job 28:22; Prov 1:7; 9:10; Ecc 12:13
God as creator, redeemer, provider for whom
reverence mingles with delight (v2), gratitude (vv4, 9) and trust (v5)
V10 – We spoke quite a lot last week about the
fear of the Lord not as cringing terror or anxiety of judgement but as
reverence, awe and respect.
Wisdom means applied knowledge – its oriented
towards action.
Knowledge is that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is how to make a salad.
You could be very clever and knowledgeable,
but not very wise!
A great boffin in pure maths might not be able
to manage the family food budget.
The beginning of wisdom – certainly the beginning
but also the chief / principal / first thing – not as if we can begin with this
and then leave it behind as we go on to steps two and three!
The beginning, the middle and the end of
wisdom, the sum and substance of wisdom, the A to Z of wisdom!
V10 – Following God’s ways leads to
understanding.
Faith seeking understanding.
Not, I need to understand everything first and
then I’ll believe it and live in the light of it.
No, rather, as we believe and obey, we
understand more and more.
There is a moral component to understanding.
It’s not just intellectual.
Our problem is rarely just informational; its
often intentional.
Knowledge of God and his ways is never
entirely academic or theoretical.
Knowing God’s ways comes as we walk in his
ways.
And this understanding leads to praise.
Praise isn’t just the exuberance of some
people.
In this Psalm, we don’t just praise God when
we feel good or because we feel like it, but because we realise he is good,
because of what he’s done.
There’s an objective basis for praise.
Praise certainly involves our heart and our
attitude, but it has other inputs too.
When we know God and his ways, we’ll naturally
see and feel that he’s praise-worthy (because he is!) and we’ll want to praise
him.
Marvel at God and he will me marvellous to
you!
Consider him. Ponder him. And soon you will
find yourself praising him.
You’ll want to take ten minutes today to think
about this, to reflect and to pray.
And I bet by 7 minutes in you’ll be praising!
God made and governs the universe so it stands
to reason that life is best lived according to the maker’s instructions.
God’s ways are the best ways.
God’s word is a sure guide.
Understanding can be found in many places, but
the best book to read is the Bible!
Only it will give sure and essential guidance.
Everything else needs to be weighed against
this book of books!
God’s precepts remain valid and relevant.
They won’t tell you how to program a computer
as such, but they’ll tell you all sorts of things about how you might and might
not use it, about work and play and communicating and running your life.
God’s precepts may be thousands of years old,
but God is unchanged and human nature is unchanged.
We always face new and challenging situations,
but God’s word remains a sufficient light to our path.
With the Word of God we are thoroughly
equipped for life and godliness.
We won’t understand everything perfectly.
We may have many unanswered questions.
But he tells us at least enough for the next
step.
A person may be very clever and learned and
have all sorts of degrees and accolades, but real understanding is shown by
obeying God’s laws.
The last word “for ever” (v10, v8) almost
dominates this Psalm
It seems fitting that our psalm ends by
reminding us that God’s praises will go on for ever.
The Psalm lifts our eyes to eternity.
We praise God not only for this life alone but
everlastingly.
* * *
OUTLINES:
Kidner:
God at work
Psalm 112: Godliness at work
Wilcock:
The works of the Lord (vv2-7a)
The precepts of the Lord (vv7b-10b)
Motyer:
Yahweh in character and action
A1: Praise and thanks (v1)
B: Yahweh’s works and character (vv2-9)
A2: Obedience and praise (v10)
Expositor’s Bible:
Celebration of God’s Faithfulness
(1) Public praise for God’s mighty acts
(vv1-3) – A
(2) The works of the Lord in redemption
(vv4-9) - B
(3) Response to God’s Mighty Acts (v10) – A’
Goldingay:
Worship and Wisdom
V1: introduction
Vv1-6: Yahweh’s acts in Israel’s history
Vv7-10: the revelation of Yahweh’s will and
its implications in Israel’s life
Vv9c-10: conclusion
https://bibletruthpublishers.com/illustration-of-two-acrostic-psalms-111-and-112/present-testimony-volume-2-1850/la85221
https://lettersfromnebby.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/psalm-study-psalm-111/
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